Volcano 'cowboys' who ride a ring of fire

Scientists here have been portrayed as "Volcano Cowboys" (the title of a book describing their work), and there certainly can be danger to it. Entering the crater by helicopter - even for a few minutes to set up a new package of detection instruments - is highly risky business. The Cascades Volcano Observatory here in Vancouver, Wash., is named for David Johnston, the young USGS scientist killed on Mount St. Helens when it blew 24 years ago.

But that's not how they see themselves. A visitor finds them more like lab nerds than risk-taking mountain climbers. The place is littered with PhD's. And for all the advanced electronic gear, there's a sense that these men and women could build a spaceship of found objects in their garage. Swiss Army knives are a favored tool. Duct tape is kept handy. Someone dashed off to Ace Hardware to find just the right container for collecting and sorting volcanic ash.

Still, they keep their hiking boots, climbing helmets, and survival gear ready to go, and there's a palpable sense of excitement in their labs and offices - which tend to be out at the mountain these days rather than here at headquarters.

"The onset of [volcanic] restlessness can happen very quickly," says geologist Scott. "You can't really rule out that something large can happen without warning, and very quickly you could have a hazardous situation."

From northern California to southern British Columbia, the Cascade Mountain Range is dotted with volcanoes, part of the "ring of fire" that encircles the Pacific Ocean. Many of these North American volcanoes are considered active, and some of the most prominent - Mount Hood and Mount Rainier - are very near large populations.

Should something major happen again (or rather, when the inevitable major volcanic event happens), the new technology and the new attitude influenced by those nearby populations give a sober cast to the work.

"We have this obligation not to let anybody get hurt," says USGS geologist Marianne Guffanti. That means volcanologists as well as the local populace.

"As a young scientist, I had a lot of fun in Hawaii," says Dr. Dzurisin. "Coming here, I came to the realization - and it might seem trite - that volcanoes in fact are very dangerous."

"A lot of our responsibility as government scientists is to mitigate the negative impacts of eruptions, to help prevent them from becoming natural disasters," he says, "and the way to do that is to better understand how volcanoes work."

For volcanologists, especially the younger ones just out of grad school, the recent activity at Mount St. Helens is the ultimate teachable moment.

"We really want to take maximum advantage of it," says Dzurisin. "We want to bring new tools to bear, new perspectives. We want to get it as right as we can because it is a rare opportunity."

"It's a great time to be a volcanologist," he says.

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